Higher Education Reforms Project

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The Higher Education Reform Project of Nepal has an objectives to support reforms in selected institutions for improving quality, relevance and efficiency of higher education; and to assist underprivileged students for equitable access. The government’s NPHERD has four components: (i) Higher Education Reforms; (ii) Centers of Excellence; (iii) System Strengthening; and (iv) Regular Program. The IDA-financed Higher Education Reforms Project (HERP) supports the Higher Education Reforms component and the Regular Program component of NPHERD through partial financing of faculty salaries, student scholarships and research grants, and financing of capacity building and project management. The Project is structured around two components: (i) Implementation of Reforms; and (ii) Capacity Building and Project Management. Component one will use a results-based approach (RBF) whereby IDA funds will be disbursed against specific eligible expenditure programs (EEPs, see Annex 3) in the development and regular program budget heads upon the achievement of pre-specified results measured by a set of disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs). This component will focus on the following four results areas to help achieve the PDO: (i) Systemic and Institutional Reforms; (ii) Academic Reforms and Relevance; (iii) Equity; and (iv) Academic Excellence and Research. Component two will support effective implementation and monitoring of NPHERD. It will finance inputs and activities required to achieve the above-stated results and enhance the capacity of the implementing, coordinating and participating agencies. Technical assistance will include inputs and activities such as: (i) services of consultants in the areas of procurement, financial management, EMIS and information technology; (ii) employer, student and faculty satisfaction surveys; (iii) studies associated with implementation of the HEP; (iv) impact assessments in various areas of project intervention; (v) strategic planning and institutional capacity building; and (vi) conferences and workshops. Inputs and activities supporting project management will include: (a) salaries for project staff; (b) staff training and study tours; (c) monitoring and evaluation including monitoring of compliance with applicable agreements and guidelines; (d) travel and subsistence allowances; and (e) vehicles10, office equipment including computers, office rental and other associated costs. This component will also support activities that will require central-level coordination and support for networking among HEIs to access global knowledge.